Leadership and effective sponsoring go hand in hand.  Without one, you lack the other.  Imagine having a hand without an arm.  It’s physically impossible.  You couldn’t have a floating hand hanging out in space without first having an arm to attach it to.  The two must co-exist.  Without one, the other is impossible.   In order for you to be a sponsor, you must first be a leader.

We need to get answers to the following questions to understand what it takes to be truly effective as a sponsor in your Network Marketing business.

• What is a leader?

• How do you become a leader?

• What is a sponsor?

• How do you become a sponsor?

You can be a leader, but not a sponsor.  But, you can’t be a sponsor and not a leader.  Why?  Obviously all leaders are not in Network Marketing, so, some leaders simply have no role as a sponsor in whatever business it is that they do.  However, all sponsors must first be leaders because being a leader is the primary mechanism that causes us to become a sponsor.  So, in order for us to discuss the issue of being a sponsor, we need to begin with what it takes to be in a leadership role.   You’ll probably notice that I’m not discussing being a GOOD leader or a GOOD sponsor.  Why?  There is only one way to be a leader or sponsor, and that is to LEAD OTHERS IN A RESPONSIBLE MANNER. 

Leadership 101

Webster’s Dictionary defines a leader as “person or thing that leads; person followed by others”.

You becoming a leader and assuming a leadership role in your Network Marketing business is as critically important as it is for you to have food, water and oxygen to survive.  Understand this simple principle:  Leaders have followers.  If you have no followers, you are not a leader.  Having followers defines being a leader.  Followers look to leaders for guidance and direction.  Leaders are “map-keepers”, “key-holders”, and the “machete marchers” of our society. They show the way, open the door, and pave the path for others to walk through safely.  Leaders take higher risks and expose themselves to more “hazards” of the business world than followers ever do.  Leaders provide safe shelter for their followers to exist in.  Being a leader isn’t necessarily a “safe” place, but the leader doesn’t care, because he/she will weather the storm regardless of the risks involved with exposure.  No followers equals no Downline.  Downline equals followers.  In some respects, we are all followers.  And, we can all become leaders as well, with proper training, practice and daily disciplines. 

Let’s look at what leaders do: 

• Leaders are people who lead by example.  They know that in order to create a strong, responsible and personally accountable group of followers, they must demonstrate the work ethic of a leader.  They set the pace for everyone else to follow.  Leaders know that their followers want to have the successes they have.  And, when they see their leader working harder, longer and more diligently than other less successful people, they quickly realize that duplicating what their leader is doing is the way to achieve success.  This is where the phrase “Find someone who has what you want and do what they do” comes from.   

• Leaders are organized planners, effective communicators, and strong on goal setting.  Their days are thought out and their mission is clear.  They plan on success and prepare for it accordingly.  Their planning ensures their success.  They never “shoot from the hip”.    Their communication with others indicates their clear intent on success.   Verbal mishaps and “words of regret” do not happen as easily with leaders.  Of course, they aren’t perfect and they realize they only thing not possible is absolute perfection.  However, they still strive for it.  They communicate to themselves, “Who knows, maybe it is possible.  Everything else is…”   These are the thoughts of a true leader. They think before they speak, ensuring that the words they communicate have meaning.  They write down with clear, measurable dates the objectives they plan on turning into reality.  They strive, achieve, celebrate and then re-evaluate with regard to their ambitions and goals.  Goal setting is a necessity of leadership.  Goal setting is one card of many dealt in the “Game of Winning”, and they play it well.

• They hold the power of vision.  Vision is the broad picture.  It helps people see the future more clearly.  They can vividly imagine the future and what’s in store for them.  Vision provides a ‘magnetic north’, a true direction for people to follow.  A true vision unifies and inspires.  Vision implies horizons toward which one is striving.  Vision is foresight.  Leaders clearly communicate the vision of their opportunity to their distributors.   

• Leaders absorb information and have breadth of knowledge.  They assimilate information and use if for future purposes.  Knowledge truly is power.  Power is a major element of leadership.  The power to direct, to change, to motivate, to create, to enhance, to inspire and to provide are just some of the powers a leader emits.  They are stimulated by increasing knowledge about their own business, about themselves, about the overall marketplace, and about the competition.  True leaders know their competition even better than their competitors know themselves. 

• They are sincere and caring.  They live life with absolute integrity and honesty.  Leaders conduct their lives in such a fashion as to create long-term positive results for themselves and those around them.  The driving force is not for personal gain, but for the betterment of others.  They know clearly that helping people get what they want will pay them back ten-fold in the future.  They are long-term thinkers and never look for the short-term fix.  They know that doing it right the first time requires less effort in the future.  Therefore, they never carry what I term a “business band-aid” to temporarily solve a problem.  They are more likely to perform in-depth surgery to fix the problem completely.  Leaders are role models.  They create an atmosphere of ethical, upstanding behavior for others to follow. There must be congruence between word and deed…what you see is what you get.  A simple way of looking at a leader’s integrity is the Golden Rule…”Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you.” 

• Leaders live a life of personal accountability.  Their work ethic is wrought with tenacious voracity.  The word failure does not exist in their vocabulary.  Leaders don’t say “I’ll give it a try” or “I’ll see how it goes”.  They stake their very existence on the success of whatever they do.  For a leader…it truly is do, or die.  They hold themselves completely accountable for both their successes and their failures.  They never direct blame on others or circumstances for the things in life that happen to them.  In fact, they create the very things that happen to them.  For leaders, life doesn’t lead them around, they lead  life around.  Leaders love to self-evaluate by asking themselves, Am I doing all that I can to bring out the best in others?  Am I a developmental leader who is coaching others on an ongoing basis?  Is my attitude toward change a healthy one?  Would others say that I am living in integrity by walking my talk and modeling the values I espouse?  What other leadership dimensions should I be adding?  Am I becoming all that I can become?   

• Leaders embrace change.  In fact, they are “change masters”.  The key is not only being open to change, but eager to embrace it.  Leaders invite and accept innovation and look for what works in a new idea.  Leaders effectively communicate change to their teams.  The leader who embraces change prepares their followers for acceptance and high productivity in light of changing events.  They minimize politics within their organizations and keep their groups in a productive mode, rather than “water-cooler gossip” mode which always leads to low production.  They don’t complain, whine or moan when something doesn’t go their way.  They live for change.  Change strengthens them.    

• They create a sense of urgency for those around them to duplicate what is that they are doing and becoming.  Leaders never stop sponsoring, training, or inspiring.  Leaders are talent scouts, knowing not to prejudge people when it comes to recruiting because they know ordinary people can become extraordinary in a short amount of time with proper training and mentoring.  And, they understand that it’s not who they recruit and sponsor, it’s who their people recruit and sponsor that makes the difference. 

• Leaders know that when they recruit, their work is just beginning.  Sponsoring someone is a process, not something that happens when you sign someone up.  A leader’s goal is to train, duplicate and create other leaders.  Leaders get their people involved and help them to become a product of the product.  Leaders know that the better they train and encourage, the more likely they will stay with you.  Leaders praise their people by saying things like “I believe in you”, “you can do this”, or “you’re doing a super job”.  Leaders help their people make money because they know any money in their distributors pocket means that it will help motivate their people to make more.  Leaders bring out the best in everyone and know that everyone around them can become a leader.     

• Leaders praise and recognize their people publicly and work with them one on one.  They are accessible and don’t hide behind voice mail because their check has put them into a comfort zone.  In fact, true leadership provides for having no comfort zone.  The sky is the limit.  Leaders have balance between their business and their personal lives.  Leaders know that they can have everything they want in their own life, if they are simply willing to help enough people get what they want.    

• Leadership requires responsibility.  Responsibility creates the ability for you to sponsor. 

Sponsorship 101

Now that you know what it takes to be a leader, how EXACTLY to you become a good sponsor? 

The first thing to understand is that sponsoring isn’t an event.  It is a process, an evolution.  It’s not something that happens.  It is something that occurs over time.

When you sponsor someone, it is not the end of the sale, it is the beginning.  People often tell me they sponsored someone.  In reality, they have not yet sponsored them.  True, they may have signed them up, but they haven’t yet sponsored them. 

When you sponsor a new recruit, you are beginning a working relationship.  Webster’s Dictionary defines a sponsor as “a person who makes him/herself responsible for another”.  Being a sponsor carries with it re-SPONS-ibility.  In fact, the root word sponsor is within the actual word responsibility.  So, in order to be a good sponsor, we must be responsible for our new recruit to truly be a sponsor.  Otherwise, we are simply recruiters. 

When you bring on a new recruit, they way you become a good sponsor to them is to do the following:

• As soon as you sign them up, introduce them to other upline leaders on the team.  Make sure your new recruit feels welcome in their new environment.  Letting them know that there are others who have an interest in their success goes a long way.  It makes them feel part of the team.  It also teaches them that they should be doing the same thing with all of their new recruits.  This is the first part of the duplication process.

• Make sure that your new recruit understands the systems that are available to them for bringing their new people on board.  Make sure they have all of the conference call numbers, pre-recorded information lines, websites, corporate phone numbers, upline phone numbers, etc.  Help them to get familiar with all of this information.  Show them the website, take them to the calls, and explain to them how they fit in to building their business. They won’t know unless you TELL THEM. 

• Get them involved in company or team training immediately.  Take them to any training calls you have scheduled, or get them whatever training documents that you have available to you.  Go through it with them. 

• Get them involved immediately…today, now, this minute.  Not tomorrow or next week, but right this second.  Start making contact with their warm market with them.  If they don’t have a warm market, help them generate leads and begin working those leads immediately. 

• Practice with them any scripts they will be using.  role play with them.  Get them to practice it until it becomes second nature. 

• Let them be on the telephone with you as you are making calls to demonstrate the simplicity of recruiting. 

• Teach them explicitly what needs to be done to effectively build the business.  Don’t make them guess.  If they haven’t done Network Marketing before, they’ll probably guess wrong. 

• Continue to support them and be available for them.  Never disappear and don’t hide behind voice mail.  Always promptly return phone calls and be enthusiastic about helping them.

• As they grow and develop, give them new ideas and expose them to more advanced techniques for recruiting and building the business. Recommend books and tapes for them to listen to and read to help them develop into more effective listeners, communicators and responsible business professionals.

Bottom line:  Be reSPONSible.  Don’t just sign them up and expect them to be successful.  You will create failures every time.   It will be YOUR responsibility when your new recruit fails, if you fail to be a responsible sponsor.  If you take the time to teach them and work with them, you will be paid back far more in the future than you put in today.

Being a good sponsor is really not that difficult if you have the proper leadership traits in place.  If you are not a good leader now…it’s o.k., work on it.  Take this information to heart and develop yourself into the leader that you are committed to becoming.  We all have to start as followers at some point in our lives.  Then, at some point in time, we make the conscious decision to become a leader.  It’s either lead, follow, or out of the way.  It’s your choice…choose wisely!

Todd Falcone, www.toddfalcone.com, has been a successful field leader for over a decade.  He is also a public speaker, trainer and personal coach to several top producing network marketers.  He lives in Seattle with his wife, Carla, and son, Gianni.